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There are Snakes Out There
Juan Pablo Villalobos
The night passed like that and then the day, and then another night, and my cousin said that we had to hold on, that if we’d held on this far we couldn’t go back now, that we knew how difficult it was going to be to cross the desert, more
difficult than the part on the train. In Oaxaca we had to sleep on the train for part of the journey, which is really dangerous. We were traveling up top, on the roof, for half a day and a night, risking falling off. They say lots of people have
died coming north this way on the train. A few times we slept on the bus, too, and others we had to sleep by the sea, on the beach, and in Chiapas we had to sleep by the river, and sometimes, like in Mexico City, we slept in a hotel. When
we were in Mexico City I went out to buy something to eat and there was a group of people in the street—I think they were Zetas—and they were clashing with the police. There was a fight right there in the street, people with guns, with
snakes in their heart.
And on the third day in the desert, on the border at Sonoyta, there were still loads of federales, lots of Immigration. At one point I found a snake—we found a snake, I mean, me and the people I was with, but luckily we managed to kill it.
They told us it had the dangerous kind of venom that could kill you.
My cousin wasn’t scared of the snakes and said that we hadn’t escaped from the gangs back home just to be killed by some snake’s poison. And I remembered that some of the guys in the gangs had tattoos of snakes, snakes on their
arms, or on their backs, even on their heads or their bellies.
There are Snakes Out There” from THE OTHER SIDE: Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border by Juan Pablo Villalobos. Copyright © 2019 by Juan Pablo Villalobos Alva. Reprinted by permission of
Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books For Young Readers. All Rights Reserved.
A)
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which meaning do the author’s repeated references to snakes in the paragraphs convey?
(1 point)
Animals should not be feared.
Danger is all around.
Snakes are common in the desert.
Snakes are good subjects for tattoos.
A) Which point of view is relatively rare in literature? (1 point)
third-person omniscient point of view
second-person point of view
first-person point of view
third-person limited point of view
A Horseman in the Sky
by Ambrose Bierce
One sunny afternoon in the autumn of the year 1861, a soldier lay in a clump of laurel by the side of a road in Western Virginia. He lay at full length, upon his stomach, his feet resting upon the toes, his head upon the left forearm. His
extended right hand loosely grasped his rifle. But for the somewhat methodical disposition of his limbs and a slight rhythmic movement of the cartridge-box at the back of his belt, he might have been thought to be dead. He was asleep at
his post of duty. But if detected he would be dead shortly afterward, that being the just and legal penalty of his crime.
"A Horseman in the Sky" by Ambrose Bierce
A)
Use the paragraph to answer the question.
What does this paragraph reveal about the story’s cultural context?
(1 point)
Soldiers during the Civil War faced execution if they did not fulfill their duties.
Soldiers in the Vietnam War who did not follow orders were considered criminals.
Exhaustion was widespread among military troops during the Korean War.
Western Virginia was considered neutral territory during the Civil War.
A Horseman in the Sky
by Ambrose Bierce
Is it, then, so terrible to kill an enemy in war—an enemy who has surprised a secret vital to the safety of one’s self and comrades—an enemy more formidable for his knowledge than all his army for its numbers? Carter Druse grew pale; he
shook in every limb, turned faint, and saw the statuesque group before him as black figures, rising, falling, moving unsteadily in arcs of circles in a fiery sky. His hand fell away from his weapon, his head slowly dropped until his face rested
on the leaves in which he lay.
This courageous gentleman and hardy soldier was near swooning from intensity of emotion. It was not for long; in another moment his face was raised from earth, his hands resumed their places on the rifle, his forefinger sought the
trigger; mind, heart and eyes were clear, conscience and reason sound. He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news. The duty of the soldier was plain: the man must
be shot dead from ambush—without warning, without a moment’s spiritual preparation, with never so much as an unspoken prayer, he must be sent to his account. But no—there is a hope; he may have discovered nothing; perhaps he is
but admiring the sublimity of the landscape. If permitted, he may turn and ride carelessly away in the direction whence he came. Surely it will be possible to judge at the instant of his withdrawing whether he knows. It may well be that his
fixity of attention—Druse turned his head and looked through the deeps of air downward as from the surface of the bottom of a translucent sea. He saw creeping across the green meadow a sinuous line of figures of men and horses—
some foolish commander was permitting the soldiers of his escort to water their beasts in the open, in plain view from a hundred summits!
"A Horseman in the Sky" by Ambrose Bierce
A)
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which sentence from the passage develops the theme that a soldier often must harm other people to protect oneself?
(1 point)
“Carter Druse grew pale; he shook in every limb, turned faint, and saw the statuesque group before him as black figures, rising, falling, moving unsteadily in arcs of circles in a fiery sky.”
“This courageous gentleman and hardy soldier was near swooning from intensity of emotion.”
“But no—there is a hope; he may have discovered nothing; perhaps he is but admiring the sublimity of the landscape.”
“He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news.”
A Horseman in the Sky
by Ambrose Bierce
So Carter Druse, bowing reverently to his father, who returned the salute with a stately courtesy which masked a breaking heart, left the home of his childhood to go soldiering. By conscience and courage, by deeds of devotion and daring,
he soon commended himself to his fellows and his officers; and it was to these qualities and to some knowledge of the country that he owed his selection for his present perilous duty at the extreme outpost. Nevertheless, fatigue had been
stronger than resolution, and he had fallen asleep. What good or bad angel came in a dream to rouse him from his state of crime, who shall say? Without a movement, without a sound, in the profound silence and the languor of the late
afternoon, some invisible messenger of fate touched with unsealing finger the eyes of his consciousness—whispered into the ear of his spirit the mysterious awakening word which no human lips ever have spoken, no human memory ever
has recalled. He quietly raised his forehead from his arm and looked between the masking stems of the laurels, instinctively closing his right hand about the stock of his rifle.
"A Horseman in the Sky" by Ambrose Bierce
A)
Use the passage to answer the question.
Which sentence from the passage develops the theme that a good soldier is brave and dutiful?
(1 point)
“Nevertheless, fatigue had been stronger than resolution, and he had fallen asleep.”
“He quietly raised his forehead from his arm and looked between the masking stems of the laurels, instinctively closing his right hand about the stock of his rifle.”
“Without a movement, without a sound, in the profound silence and the languor of the late afternoon, some invisible messenger of fate touched with unsealing finger the eyes of his consciousness . . .”
“By conscience and courage, by deeds of devotion and daring, he soon commended himself to his fellows and his officers . . .”
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
LADY MACBETH:
Consider it not so deeply.
MACBETH:
But wherefore could not I pronounce “Amen”?
I had most need of blessing, and “Amen”
Stuck in my throat.
LADY MACBETH:
These deeds must not be thought
After these ways; so, it will make us mad.
From Macbeth by William Shakespeare
A)
Use the lines to answer the question.
Lady Macbeth claims that she wants her husband to forget the murder of Duncan because it will “make us mad.” How else could her intent be interpreted?
(1 point)
She is afraid they will be caught if they do not act quickly to move on from the act.
She believes that her husband’s weakness will harm his ability to rule.
She does not consider the murder to be a subject worthy of considerable thought.
She believes that her husband’s religious faith will interfere with the witches’ prophecy.
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Friar Lawrence.
I hear some noise.—Lady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep;
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away.

1 of 2 
A)
Use the passage and the painting to answer the question.
What is the mood of both the passage and the painting?
(1 point)
relaxed
somber
hostile
hopeful

Answer 1

Answers

Question 1: Which meaning do the author’s repeated references to snakes in the paragraphs convey?

• Answer: Danger is all around.

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Question 2: Which point of view is relatively rare in literature?

• Answer: Second-person point of view

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Question 3: What does this paragraph reveal about the story’s cultural context?

• Answer: Soldiers during the Civil War faced execution if they did not fulfill their duties.

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Question 4: Which sentence from the passage develops the theme that a soldier often must harm other people to protect oneself?

• Answer: “He could not hope to capture that enemy; to alarm him would but send him dashing to his camp with his fatal news.”

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Question 5: Which sentence from the passage develops the theme that a good soldier is brave and dutiful?

• Answer: “By conscience and courage, by deeds of devotion and daring, he soon commended himself to his fellows and his officers . . .”

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Question 6: Lady Macbeth claims that she wants her husband to forget the murder of Duncan because it will “make us mad.” How else could her intent be interpreted?

• Answer: She is afraid they will be caught if they do not act quickly to move on from the act.

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Question 7: What is the mood of both the passage and the painting?

• Answer: Somber